Hanging out with the fam: Golden Bears spend time on campus for Family Weekend

Hanging out with the fam: Golden Bears spend time on campus for Family Weekend

Last weekend was a little different than other weekends at
Tech. Students still ate lunch in the Bears Den. Student-athletes competed on
the field and others hit the books in the library. Except this weekend, there
were moms, dads, sisters, brothers and even family pets along for the ride.

WVU Tech hosted its first Family Weekend in Beckley on October 27-29. The event offered the families of WVU Tech
students a chance to stop by for a weekend of activities on an off campus.

Michael Sheldon, Coordinator of
Student Programming and Organizations, said that the event was a way to help
families feel more connected to the institution.

“Orientation is a hectic time for
students and their families, so this is a dedicated opportunity for families to
come back to campus and discover what it’s like for their students. It’s a
chance for them to see the kind of things their students are doing in college
and who they’re working with along the way,” he said.

Kristina Miller came in from
northern Virginia for the weekend’s activities. Her son Michael Clark is a
freshman on campus. He's studying computer science and wants to get into video
game animation.

Miller was diagnosed with cancer
last year, so Michael took a year off to stay home and help with the younger
children.

"I told him he couldn’t put
his life on pause anymore. So when we were looking at him going back to school,
it was WVU Tech that had the best fit for his concentration,” she said.

Miller brought her two young
children along for the visit, where they had a chance to see campus and hang
out at Michael’s favorite spots.

"Knowing that this is his
home away from home environment, I think that's what's so exciting for all of
us to experience with him,” she said.

The family is close, and so for
Miller, Tech’s small campus feels like a good fit for her son. She said that
being able to spend some time exploring her son’s new environment puts her at
ease.

"It's a close-knit campus. I
like that. As a parent, I'm leaving him in good hands," she said.

Families came in for the weekend’s
festivities from multiple states and as far away as Mexico.